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“Kinder World” is an upcoming game by Lumi Interactive for iOS and Android. The app provides users with adorable plants to care for as they work to better themselves through daily exercises, using gardening and meditation to help them practice gratitude and self-care. Players can partake in community activities by joining their social media; they can also contribute by writing supportive messages to other players. “Kinder World” has people taking away a few minutes of their day to focus on their well-being and helping others.
Fictional entertainment can be a great way for others to ease their state of mind after a terrible day. Games, especially, can do wonders in helping us decompress whenever we’re stressed. They are effective in helping us work with our self-confidence issues and emotional control. Games can also create a safe environment for others to socialize and uplift themselves if they’re struggling to do so in real life. Mobile games like “Kinder World” are no exception to this. The app provides users with a relaxing atmosphere that helps them focus on healing and self-care.
My Week Playing “Kinder World”
I was given the opportunity to play “Kinder World” this week to see what it was about. One of “Kinder World’s” goals is to help players de-stress while taking care of a plant. I wanted to see if this goal was possible to achieve within the early stages of the game, so I devoted myself to playing it for a week. I wasn’t expecting much to happen during this time since the game is still in its testing period. I knew many of the features weren’t included yet, so I was surprised when I started developing attachments to my plant.
“Kinder World” starts with players moving into a new house in the game. There they are greeted by a dog waiting outside their window. He introduces himself as “Samy” and welcomes you to the neighborhood. He gives you a plant as a housewarming gift and instructs you on how to care for it before leaving. Since this game is currently still in development, players are only given the option of growing a Monstera plant. It was at this point that I was asked to name the plant. I’m not great at naming things, so I called him Jeff. Jeff, the Monstera plant. And thus, my week with Jeff began.
Our situation was awkward at first. I didn’t know what I was doing or how to feel when caring for a digital plant. Jeff was rather pitiful during this time. He was bald and frequently thirsty. I decided that I didn’t like him being like that, so I got to work and prayed for the best. Once I got the routine down, he started smiling at me, and I felt an odd sense of achievement. I was glad he appreciated my effort. Soon, Jeff started sprouting leaves, and I began looking forward to our daily appointments together. I oftentimes found myself feeling happy after spending time with him.
Interesting Features In “Kinder World”
“Kinder World” follows a unique gratitude system that benefits both the player and their plant. Players need to water their plant twice a day, every day, to get the best results for their plant. When it comes to watering their plant, players are given the option of using the “premium” water (enriched with messages of gratitude) or rainwater. Rainwater is available in case players are having an off day. This option is provided for days when people don’t feel up to the task of doing some personal reflection. However, the major downside to players choosing rainwater is that their plant won’t grow any further for the day.
Sometimes during their daily visits, players are rewarded with Polaroids of their plant along with a message hidden inside a heart-shaped clip. These messages function like a fortune cookie, in which the player receives kind words of encouragement upon touching the clip. After a certain amount of watering, the plant reaches its growing limit, and the player reaches the end of the demo. It’s at this point that Samy visits the player once more to commend them for their efforts. He also asks them whether they want to start over or continue caring for the plant as it is.
How “Kinder World” Encourages Self-Care
“Kinder World” creates a positive environment for players to practice healing and self-kindness. Players are expected to care for their houseplants by completing a set of daily exercises. This comes in the form of indoor gardening and writing messages of gratitude. “Kinder World” uses the benefits from meditative activities to help others practice healthy habits. A majority of the gardening available in the game right now consists of having players nurture their plants and watching them grow.
In general, gardening is a great way to promote positive mental health activity. People are often happier when they interact with nature. The activity gives them a personal sense of accomplishment when they see plants successfully growing under their care. This, in turn, boosts their self-esteem. “Kinder World” applies these features to the game by using plants to create a soothing environment for players. The app also creates an easy way for players to raise house plants without having them experience the hardships of actual gardening.
Why You Should Be Kind To Yourself
Let’s face it — we’re our worst critics in life. We’re always going to blame ourselves for things that don’t go our way. It’s easier for us to criticize our faults than to accept that bad things in life sometimes just happen. This is true regardless of what we do. However, we shouldn’t ignore our feelings whenever things get bad or stressful. Pessimistic thinking can easily become a destructive cycle for us if we ignore it for too long. Learning to be kind to yourself is learning to accept yourself for who you are. We should be sympathetic to our flaws than to judge them harshly.
It’s easy to take things for granted sometimes as we often pay more attention to the negative things that happen to us. In the process, we tend to forget about all the good things we have going for us. This is why developing a routine of appreciation can benefit us in the long run. Gratitude writing can help others focus more on the things in life that are important to them. “Kinder World” incites players to write daily messages of gratitude so they can help both the plant and themselves. The exercise helps us grow more aware of the positive parts in our lives and teaches us to appreciate them better.
A Final Consensus
By the end of the week, Jeff was flourishing, and I was elated. The progress we made together was memorable, and I will miss it once the testing period ends. Ultimately, I really like this game. I tend to live a stressful life, so the experience gave me a much-needed breather from the real world. “Kinder World” is a gorgeous game, and the activities in it can do a lot to help you process your negative feelings. A lot of my anxiety and pessimism during the week disappeared whenever I saw my plant smiling at me. I felt my confidence levels rise while playing this game.
The objectives in “Kinder World” only take a few minutes to complete. Most of the time, you’re left feeling recuperated after completing them. However, personal improvement only happens if you decide to play the game seriously. I realized early on that it’s easy to fake your progress in “Kinder World.” You can cheat your way through the game by writing random responses to the gratitude questions. There are no consequences to playing this way, and there’s nothing wrong with it if you’re only looking to play the game for fun. But if you’re playing to improve yourself, you should consider giving these exercises an honest try.
What To Make Of “Kinder World”
As of current, there’s not much to do on “Kinder World.” My biggest gripe so far is that we can’t keep any of the pictures we get of our plants. (Not unless we take a screenshot of them first.) This is unfortunate as the Polaroids are lovely, and it’d be nice if we could collect them to scrapbook. Players also aren’t able to respond to any of the heartwarming messages they receive in the game. However, this can change in the future as more features are added to the game.
“Kinder World” is expected to release later this year, with their Kickstarter now launched. Eventually, players will be able to customize and propagate their plants however they like. This lets them create several unique plants and share their cuttings with other players. Lumi Interactive’s mini-game, “Plant Wish,” offers us an idea of what designs to look forward to. You can find out more about “Kinder World” on their website and Twitter.
